1. Field of the Invention
The invention generally relates to radio communications devices and methods, and more particularly to techniques of controlling the radio interface in such devices.
2. Description of the Related Art
Radio communications devices are widely used in voice and/or data communication networks. Examples of such networks are WWAN (Wireless Wide Area Network) networks which utilize digital mobile phone systems to access data and information from any location in a specific range. Using a mobile phone or the like as a modem, a mobile communication device such as a notebook computer, an PDA (Personal Digital Assistant), or a device with a standalone radio card can receive and send information from a network, a corporate intranet, or the Internet.
Other examples of radio communications networks are GPRS (General Packet Radio Service) networks which use a 2.5G technology implemented in GSM (Global Systems for Mobile Communications) networks. GPRS is a packet based “always on” technology with data transfer speeds of up to a theoretical maximum of about 171.2 kbps. EGPRS (Enhanced GPRS) uses the 8PSK (Phase Shift Keying) modulation technique to further increase the achievable user data rate. Other radio communications networks exist as well.
Transceiver (i.e. transmitter/receiver) devices or just receiver devices in such radio communications devices generally have a radio module which is attached to an antenna to receive the radio signals which have the voice or other data modulated. Alternatively, transceiver devices may be part of a radio module which is attached to the antenna. Further, the devices usually have some processing hardware to demodulate the received signals and process the demodulated data in a suitable manner.
Moreover, the receiver gain values and the path the data takes through the receiver circuit is controlled. In addition, the following tasks are triggered: (a) the software control tasks, and (b) the DSP tasks that analyse/handle the received data. There may also be a transmission function that: (a) selects the type of modulation for the data transmission, (b) controls the transmission burst power level levels and power level transition profiles, and (c) sets radio circuit calibration parameters in real time. All of these controls have to be done within tight real time constraints. These constraints are met by a combination of hardware and software functions.
To allow the processing unit to correctly interface to the radio module, it usually has a radio interface unit that can be controlled to perform actions like turning on or off the radio circuit or the like. Thus, the processing units usually include a control mechanism to control the radio interface to achieve suitable operation. The manner of how the radio interface is controlled is usually hard coded or, if software based, stored in a non-volatile memory to allow proper operation even if the device was powered down for a certain time.
However, the conventional techniques have been found to be detrimental as there is a severe lack of flexibility. For instance, if a radio module of a device is to be replaced with a radio module of a (even slightly) different kind, it would be necessary for the processing unit to change the manner of how to control the radio interface since the timing of individual control tasks or even the sequence of tasks may change. Thus, it is often not possible in conventional devices to exchange a radio module by another module without also exchanging the processing units or parts thereof.
Another situation where the lack of flexibility is found to be detrimental is the development of circuit designs for upcoming radio module techniques. In such situations it may happen that there are not yet suitable radio modules available so that the development of processing units is stalled. This is disadvantageous as it might slow down the development and implementation of new techniques.